EU Masters Group A decided, BIG and Mkers move on to quarterfinals

League of Legends European Masters 2021 Spring rumbles on as Berlin International Gaming and Mkers make it out of Group A into the quarter finals on April 21. The two teams were the clear front runners of the group as Anorthosis Famagusta Esports and K1CK finished with a 2-4 and 1-5 record respectively. BIG top the group with a 6-0 and Mkers snuck in at 3-3. Group A was decided early as Mkers overcame K1CK in the second matchup, effectively eliminating them from the knockout stage. Anorthosis Famagusta was next to dropout after the third match of the day, losing to K1CK.

BIG and Mkers move on to the knockout stage with Misfits Premier and ŠAIM SE SuppUp. The matches over the next two days will determine which teams will join them in the elimination bracket.

BIG easily top Group A at EU Masters

hahahahhahahahahahaha #EUMasters pic.twitter.com/0YfbJ93AOa

— Joe Fenny (@HeyMunchables) April 21, 2021

BIG are the German regional league No. 1 seed. They placed second in the regular season and first in the playoffs. BIG defeated both FC Schalke 04 Evolution and mousesports in the Prime League Pro Division Spring Playoffs to qualify directly to the EU Masters main event. BIG took the group with better map and team play across the board. They can be set back early at times. In a few of the group stage games BIG went down up to 1,000 gold and a few kills against them. But, the team always managed to pull back a lead thanks to better team fighting around objectives and objective control.

Throughout the group stage, BIG was captained by Karim “Karimkt” Aubineau in the jungle and Steven “Reeker” Chen in the mid lane. Karimkt would helm the early game with decent objective control, even while the enemy team was ahead in gold. He also pulled out aggressive, mechanically-intensive champions like Nidalee and Lee Sin. Reeker, on the other hand, is a control mage player and would scale into the team’s carry. In his six games he even pulled out assassins like Akali and Ekko to great effect.

Mkers move on to the knockout stage

Mkers are the Italian representative from the PG Nationals Spring Season. They placed second in the regular season and playoffs. That second place spot earned them a chance at EU Masters in the play-in stage. Along with other second seeds and smaller regional finalists, Mkers battled to second in their play-in group to qualify for the main event. They finished second in their play-in group as well with a 4-2 record.

Absolute banger of a match ends with a @mkersofficial backdoor! #EUMasters pic.twitter.com/YeCKVJRYra

— EMEA Masters (@EMEAmasters) April 21, 2021

The Italian team split their games against Anorthosis Famagusta but took both games against K1CK. The team generally likes to play meta compositions, but does rely on its top laner to carry some games. Rafael “Doxy” Adl Zarabi played five different champions and even played weak-side on picks like Karma and Gangplank.

Both teams will compete against the rest of the field after the group stage ends on April 23. BIG takes the top seed and will play against a second seeded opponent while Mkers will face off against a top seeded foe.